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TCL QM7L Mini-LED TV Review (2026)
Are we entering the era of TV “dupes”? Because to the untrained eye, or even a reasonably trained one, it’s hard to distinguish TCL’s mini-LED-powered QM7L from a lower-end OLED. So when your brother-in-law plops down in front of your new TV to watch the Lions and says, “Wow, you splurged, eh?” you can just nod and give a wink. Dupe accomplished.
I know this because the QM7L arrived close on the heels of a new budget OLED, the Roku Pro Series, so I was able to compare the two side by side. Results: surprising. Although it has a potentially problematic design element and an AI that’s not exactly Claude-level sophisticated, the QM7L might just be the best midrange TV you can buy right now.
Available in sizes ranging from 55 inches (which I tested) to a mammoth 98 inches, the QM7L boasts a virtually borderless screen that stands on a pedestal instead of the usual feet. That’s a win if you own a small piece of furniture that might not accommodate the width of such feet, and I’d argue it’s more aesthetically pleasing too.
However, it does pose a problem: Because the pedestal base sticks out in front by a little over 4 inches, it doesn’t allow a soundbar to sit snug up to the screen. You could balance it on top of the base, but that looks awkward. And because it slopes down, the soundbar doesn’t even sit level.
What’s more, although the base has two height options, the taller one leaves the bottom of the TV just 2.25 inches off your TV stand. That may be enough clearance for ultra-compact soundbars like the Bose TV Speaker, but something like the Sonos Arc, which measures 3 inches high, ends up blocking a sliver of the screen.
The pedestal is also kind of a pain to assemble, with little help from the tiny diagrams in TCL’s otherwise decent setup guide. There are eight small screws used to connect the riser to the base, four more to attach it to the TV, and a bit of confusion over which of 10 mounting holes you’re meant to use.
These are hardly dealbreakers. If you’re planning to wall-mount the TV, the base becomes a non-issue. Same if you’re skipping a soundbar altogether. Or maybe you’re willing to live with it sitting out in front a few inches.
Setting up the TV itself is largely a breeze, especially if you already have the Google Home app on your phone. Even though I’m an iPhone guy, I was able to scan an onscreen QR code and use the app to move quickly through the setup process. An account sign-in and Wi-Fi network selection later, I just had to wait on a software update before heading to the couch.
TCL’s unremarkable remote has sharp edges, the usual mishmash of Google TV buttons, and a pretty disorganized layout overall. On the plus side, it’s backlit and comes with six app-shortcut buttons.
One head-scratcher: The penultimate TV-setup screen notes that I can “customize the star button on the remote,” using it as a shortcut for this or that, which sounds great except that there is no star button.